Rocket lineup revealed for X Prize Cup

By Alan Boyle: A hovering spacecraft prototype, a zooming rocket plane, demonstrations and blastoffs galore are on the schedule in October for the first-ever X Prize Cup, a follow-up to last year’s $10 million suborbital space race.

Don’t expect any space-launch competitions this year at Las Cruces’ airport: This is strictly an exposition and exhibition, operating under the Federal Aviation Administration’s rules for experimental aircraft.

But there will be liftoffs, takeoffs and rocket flames, during a four-day event aimed at setting the stage for contests to come, said Peter Diamandis, chairman and founder of the X Prize Foundation.